Merry little Christmas
by Beckydaspatz
Summary: A cute little ficlet set in S4...for Xander/Anya fans...all four of you lol :P


**A.N.: Hello again, thought I would drop by and submit a Christmas story. (I know, I know, it's late) Set in S4 of after Something Blue, but before Hush. Told from Anyas' POV cause she just doesn't get enough love. Anya/Xander and Spuffy if you tilt your head and squint real hard. Just a bit of holiday fluff. Hope everyone's Christmas was MAGICAL. God bless!**

**Disclaimer: To my dismay I did NOT get rights to Buffy and Co for Christmas…so they still don't belong to me.**

She didn't understand the appeal of the holidays. I mean really, who in their right mind would enjoy spending an ungodly amount of money on other people? Surely you could easily substitute IOU's or sexual favors to those you chose to care about. Why did they find it necessary to make her dip into her rapidly descending funds? So she decided, she really, REALLY didn't like them. Not even Xander who had invited her to tag along to his and Willows' yearly watching of a "Charlie Brown Christmas" where she had the displeasure of sitting on the cold floor and Willow had brought more of the horrible chocolate chip cookies and Anya had choked another dozen of the heinous things down. Couldn't she see that she was forgiven, why did she insist on making more? She had felt distinctly out of place with Willow and Xander laughing and joking and sitting shoulder to shoulder. Why the hell had he invited her over if he was just going to ignore her the whole time anyway? So as she trudged over to Giles house she was irritated at the twinkling lights and smells of gingerbread men wafting through the air…she was also sad that she could dimly remember a day with her mom, cooking and decorating, a Christmas goose laid across the table.

"Hey Anya!" the cheery voice of Willow Rosenburg snapped her out of her thoughts as the red head jogged to catch up with her.

"Yes. Hi." She replied as Willow gestured to the gifts in her arms.

"You need some help with those?"

"No. I am quite capable of getting these presents to Giles' house in one piece."

"Okay, just looks like you are having trouble."

"Nope. I'm fine. So you can go away now."

Willows smile faded as she nodded and moved past her.

Anya was grateful that Xander was not around…she would have gotten an earful on why she shouldn't be rude to people trying to help. But what did Willow think, she was just some idiot child, she couldn't handle a few lousy…

Her thoughts were broken into as one of the presents tumbled from her arms to the ground with a loud crash. "Dammit!" she yelped as she glared down at the contents.

"Well it's not as if Giles really NEEDS more Scotch." She mused, walking away from the mess.

Giles greeted her at the door, taking the gifts and ushering her into the house in one smooth movement.

"Merry Christmas Anya." He said with a grin.

She chose not to answer him, instead making a "Mhmm." noise in the back of her throat and plopping down to the couch where Xander sat.

"Hey there." He replied, planting a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. "Glad you could make it."

"Well you did invite me with the tone that indicated that it was important to you that I come."

"Well yeah it's Christmas, you shouldn't be alone. It's the time to mooch and enjoy free eggnog." He smiled at her warmly.

"That's what all the commercials say anyway."

"Gasp! Are you a Bah Humbuger?" he teased

"No…I just hate Christmas. The only good thing that comes out of it is all the vengeanance wishes the day after."

Xander looked slightly uncomfortable as he always did when she talked about her demon days and Anya pulled away.

"But you can't hate Christmas!" Willow cried. "There are shiny decorations and pretty lights and presents!"

Anya glanced at her briefly. "Aren't you Jewish?"

"Well yeah but…" Willow broke off as Spike could be heard roaring in the bathroom.

"BLOODY HELL! It's bleeding Christmas and you won't even give a bloke a SIP!"

"A sip? You're lucky I don't stake your ass here and now!"

"Oh lucky she says, yeah if I'm so sodding lucky why am I chained to a bathtub, being denying anything with the slightest bit of alcohol in it while you lot giggle and open presents?"

An exasperated sigh could be heard as Buffy spoke.

"Because you Spike are an evil, soulless monster and if I had any sort of sense I would have done you in long ago."

"Well you did me just fine the other night Slayer."

What followed after that comment was a horrendous yell and a flushed Buffy appearing in the living room.

She ran a hair through her hair and stated. "If I don't kill him by the end of the night it will be a Christmas miracle."

Anya found herself wondering why she hated Christmas so much. Of course there was the commercialism of the overall holiday, the endless amount of cheesy Christmas movies, the money issue, the obnoxious Christmas décor, not to mention the one time she had ran into a Christmas rabbit…she shivered at the thought. But really she supposed it had to do with the fact that she had spent a countless number of them alone, sitting in a bar, or a pub, or some strangers house after she had followed Halli there and watching couples cuddle and laugh and kiss in the glow of Christmas lights. And she…she had always felt a twinge of her humanity watching the love and gift exchanges and overall happiness of the season. And she hated that twinge when she was a demon. But now…she supposed she just hated it because it had become habit.

"You ok?" she felt a hand on her shoulder as she met Xanders' eyes. "You are being awful quiet for you."

"I'm fine." She stated.

"Okay well we are going to open presents in a minute if you want to join us around the tree."

She took in her surroundings, noticing how everyone was placed around the tree. Buffy shook one present, being mock scolded by Giles. Willow was getting ready to pass out presents and even Spike, who had been freed from the bathtub after singing a very crude version of Jingle bells, was nursing a cup of eggnog, eyes burning with a subtle jealously of the gathering. She never noticed how much he was just like a little boy. She wondered if he missed the normalcy of Christmas as much as she did at times.

"Here you go Anya, this one's for you." Willow held the present at arm's length waiting for her to take it.

Anya stared at the package for just a second, taking it with a small "thank you." She watched Buffy tear into a package, squealing with delight at the new shoes. Willow and her shared a hug, after another package Xander was pulled into the hug as well. Spike rolled his eyes at the affection, grabbing the bottle of Scotch from the counter and disappearing once again. It took Giles a total of five minutes to realize the bottle was missing and he excused himself briefly. Buffy followed him shortly and then Willow, always wanting to help.

"Everything ok?" he asked, moving to sit next to her on the couch.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because you haven't opened your present yet and you keep staring at it like it's a bomb." He chuckled.

She dropped the present suddenly. "Is it a bomb? I didn't ask for a bomb! What kind of person would give someone a bomb?" she questioned as Xander took her hand.

"An, it's not a bomb. I was joking. Why don't you open it up and see?"

She looked at the discarded package. "It's from Willow. It could be a bomb."

"It's not. Just open it already."

She peeled back the first piece of tape, part of her waiting for the damn thing to explode, then the wrapping paper fell away to reveal a very pretty flowery shirt.

"Ooooh pretty." She said, admiring it.

"Told bomb."

"You were right." She replied, stating the obvious.

"Yeah you'll have to tell Willow you like it."

She nodded.

"I…um…Merry Christmas." He said placing something in her hands.

She looked down at it, confused at the shiny piece of metal in her hands.

"It's a locket. You know for your neck, it's not much and I know it's kinda small…"

She looked down at the locket, tears swimming in her eyes. She couldn't remember the last time someone she had gotten a present from a man. She also remembered seeing this locket in a store window and pestering Xander to buy it and Xander telling her he didn't have the money. He didn't have the money and yet somehow… he had found a way to get it for her.

"I know I didn't wrap it and there's no card," his rambling was cut off as Anya leaned up to kiss him, firmly, lovingly on the lips.

"It's perfect. I love it." She whispered. It was very unlike her to say things so kind and soft, but she couldn't contain the twinge in her heart. The humanity knocking down every wall and defense she had.

He pulled her close, smiling into her hair. "I'm glad you like it."

As she listened to his heartbeat and took in the smell that was purely Xander she made a decision that Christmas wasn't that bad after all. She just needed someone with a heart like his to show her that all along. She had gotten the best Christmas gift of all…love.

**A.W.: I'm not used to not writing Spuffy, I found myself wanting to deviate to Buffy and Spike getting it on under some mistletoe or fighting and ending up in a compromising position. Oh Spuffy…I just can't quit you :P Anyway I really didn't like this the first time I read through it…and now I think it's sweet. As much as I love Anya, I have a hard time writing her…she is just so dang blunt and towards the beginning of season 4 she didn't really care about anyone but Xander(the way I see it anyway) Hope you gave it a chance and enjoyed it. Merry Belated Christmas and whatever holidays you celebrate. Review if you have something to say. Love you guys!**


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